The Courteeners slam Simon Cowell over BTG single release clash

KEEPING IT REAL: The Manchester band are bored with the current state of the music industry [PH]

The Manchester collective are unleashing their latest offering Concrete Love on Monday.

So they were reeling when the music mogul, 54, moved the release of Britain’s Got Talent-winning boyband Collabro’s debut to the same day.

Frontman Liam Fray, 28, told me: “He’ll sell a million units and a proper band will be left in the wings. They will be No1 next week.” Speaking of BGT and The X Factor prospects, he said: “It’s got to be running out of steam soon. Who buys it?

“There are only so many good singers out there who can go on these shows.”

Still flying the flag for grassroots rock ’n’ roll, the band are downbeat about the state of the music scene.

“Nobody seems real, it’s all so dull and boring”

Liam Fray, The Courteeners

Liam griped: “Nobody seems real, it’s all so dull and boring. It’s one long episode of Miranda. There are no personalities any more. There’s only a handful of bands that are doing it properly nowadays, like Kasabian and Arctic Monkeys. I remember I used to think: ‘I wanna be in that band,’ but do you really wanna go on the road with Alt-J?”

The singer says radio stations should take some of the blame for catering for teenyboppers.

He explained: “The problem is radio stations are gearing up to younger audiences, but young people don’t listen to the radio.

“One minute they’re saying the average listener age is 13, then they’re saying it’s 35. The radio is for builders and plumbers driving around in vans.”